Aug 16 It's a Family Affair

A little over 9 years ago I walked through the doors of a much smaller, lesser known Two Caterers. They had just moved into the facility off of Schrock Road that week and desks were being assembled - enough desks for the 4 people, Angela included, that worked in the office. Such a different scene than the labyrinth of desks on site today at High Line Car House.

I had been a stay at home mom for the most part of 10 years and I was hoping to find something to call my own now that my youngest had just entered full time kindergarten. Surely my lack of current employment (10 years worth) and 3 months of cashier experience at KFC back in 1989 wasn’t going to woo this potential food industry employer. But luckily, based upon the recommendation of my friend, Angela gave me a shot.

I was thrilled to be out of the house, doing something completely new and seeing parts of Columbus I had never seen in my 4 years since moving from Minnesota. To this day one of my favorite parts of working at TC is going to new places, seeing beautiful homes, really cool venues, and learning about amazing companies I didn’t know existed.

If you know me, you know my motto is Family First.

This little part time job of mine allowed me the flexibility I wanted so I could be home when the kids arrived from school and go to their events and activities. On the other hand I enjoyed the work so much that I would sometimes bring my then adolescent daughter, Avery, with me into the shop. This chick dug it. She couldn’t wait to be a part of the bigger picture once she was old enough. Sure enough the Sweet Carrot Food Truck was this charismatic kid’s favorite gig when she started nearly 5 years ago.

Avery is about to turn 21 and continues to work at TC over winter and summer breaks when she is home from college. Being a Business Major she is very fortunate to have a front row seat to the ever burgeoning success of TC.

Plus when your BFF is the CEO of the company you might just get a little extra pointer or two. Yes, Avery and Angela are “Besties”. These two quirky birds hit it off years ago and continue to crack each other up every time their paths cross. As a mom you always worry about the company your children keep... This friendship, this one I’ll allow.

Then we recruited Logan.

Do you remember “that” house when you were growing up? The house where the door was always unlocked and the people inside didn’t jump out of fright when the door opened but instead simply said “come on in” before they could even see who it is. That’s the Kern's house. Once you're in, you're in. Logan walked through that door one day almost 4 years ago and he has been a staple ever since. We love him like our own. I knew the kid was a hard worker and when he said he needed a job I didn’t hesitate to refer him to TC. Like Avery, Logan also comes home to work over breaks from college. I always feel lucky when I have either of them on one of my events.

Hard Workers + Young Energy = A Happy Event Supervisor.

I love that I have been fortunate enough to bring my own family in and blend it seamlessly with my TC family. Some people like to say their work family is one big dysfunctional unit. Well, I would like to propose that we are not dysfunctional. We believe we function more like cousins... We are connected, we sometimes spend quite a bit of time together and at the end of it all, we respect each other for our varied backgrounds and for our individual talents that act as necessary cogs in this big amazing wheel.

All for One and One for All, am I right?

There is one more Kerns kiddo at home. He is about to turn 16. Who knows, you might just see the tall lanky teen serving up some pulled pork at the new Sweet Carrot at Polaris this fall. If you do tell him, “Say hello to your mother for me”.